AP FACT CHECK: Obama Uses Iffy Math on Deficit Pledge

[steven johnson]

When Lyndon Johnson was pushing through Medicare, he told his congressional allys to avoid getting into cost projection debates. He knew it would be pricy but thought the money would be found. He was right. Is President Obama doing the same?

Text

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 9, 2009
Filed at 11:07 p.m. ET

More Politics NewsWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama used only-in-Washington accounting Wednesday when he promised to overhaul the nation's health care system without adding ''one dime'' to the deficit. By conventional arithmetic, Democratic plans would drive up the deficit by billions of dollars.

The president's speech to Congress contained a variety of oversimplifications and omissions in laying out what he wants to do about health insurance.

House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Office said would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years. But Democrats and Obama administration officials claimed the bill actually was deficit-neutral. They said they simply didn't have to count $245 billion of it -- the cost of adjusting Medicare reimbursement rates so physicians don't face big annual pay cuts.

Their reasoning was that they already had decided to exempt this ''doc fix'' from congressional rules that require new programs to be paid for. In other words, it doesn't have to be paid for because they decided it doesn't have to be paid for.

FACT CHECK: Obama Uses Iffy Math on Deficit Pledge

[johnaries]

1. Meh. AP.

:eyes:

[DeepBlueC]

2. the finished bill does not exist yet, or am I mistaken?

The President made that pledge and I think Congress will have to find a way.

[BuyingThyme]

3. He left a loophole.

He said no new taxes for the middle class and no additional debt.

You fill in the missing detail.

[lyonn]

7. Giggle - the super wealthy??

Truly, most of them wouldn't know the difference. Now if they had to pull their kids out of college to pay for it that would be different. I don't think so. And just think, some kid that may not have had a chance to attend college may get the chance due to the passing of health care and upping the taxes of the especially rich. Three to 10 thousand a year for some to get insurance is robbery. As Kennedy said, "it's morally wrong". Have we no shame?

[HughMoran]

4. Well, if this was a big concern to me and my healthcare

then I'd be worried. I'll take healthcare over a bit of a rise in deficit. How was the Iraq war for the deficit? Point made.

[Johonny]

5. fact check is more an innuendo check

[ddeclue]

6. I noticed he scrupulously avoided raising taxes on the rich

but considered spending cuts in order to keep healthcare from raising the debt.

Where do those cuts come from?

:shrug:

[EC]

8. I'm getting really sick of the "deficit" shit

so what? It's not for us to worry about, it's for them to figure out...that's why we hired them...just do it and don't bother me with the details...


And aren't the tax cuts for the wealthy going to expire next year? I'm guessing they won't be made permanent or renewed....